Morgan grinned at her audacity but her words had the opposite effect on Eun. The Korean’s frown deepened and he obviously would have responded if not for a glance from Lazarus.
“We are, actually,” Lazarus replied. “But only with certain conditions.”
“Like what?”
“Well, The Peregrine vouched for you, as I’m sure you knew he would. He also corroborated your story about some sort of mystical form empowering you.”
Thank you, Max, Charity thought to herself.
Lazarus crossed his arms. “But he and I are in agreement that you’re going to get yourself in hot water if you keep murdering criminals. He’s found himself the target of law enforcement before and has recently taken steps to curb the number of deaths associated with his investigations. I want you to do the same.”
“Take it up with The Voice,” Charity responded. “I was told to ‘shovel the dirt’ onto their graves. The Voice didn’t give me much leeway about that.”
“Nevertheless, I think you’re putting too much emphasis on the killing aspect of what The Voice said. From what I understand, you’re also supposed to become a better person. I know from personal experience that it’s hard to do that with blood dripping from your hands.”
“I second that,” Morgan said.
Mitchell cleared his throat. “We can stop killing.”
Charity looked at him in shock but Mitchell pressed on.
“But we don’t want to feel like you’re watching over us like spies or something. You have to trust us, mate.”
Lazarus paused and then nodded. “Fair enough. But if I hear that Gravedigger is killing again, I’ll come knocking — and this time, I’m not going to go easy on you.”
“What the hell was that about?!” Charity shouted, as soon as they were back in the car. Her equipment was thrown into the back seat, leaving her free to stare down Mitchell.
He started up the car and began driving before he answered. “I lied.”
“You lied?”
“That’s what I said, luv. I told them what they wanted to hear so they’d let us go free.”
Charity shook her head, chuckling. “Lazarus is going to hate us.”
“I think we should abandon Josef’s house.”
“I don’t see why….”
“Because they know it’s our base!” Mitchell glanced over at her, ignoring the way a driver going past honked his car’s horn. It was one thing to see a black man driving a white woman around when it was obvious he was nothing more than a chauffeur — but with the two of them sitting side-by-side in the front seat, the societal boundaries were being blurred and not everyone appreciated that. “We should move into Hendry Hall. Cedric’s new to the group and they may not even know he’s working with us. Besides, the place is huge — there’s more than enough room for all of Josef’s books and for us, too.”
“I don’t know if Cedric would appreciate us moving in.”
“Of course he would. He wants to impress Li and that means impressing you.”
“Moving to a new house in town isn’t going to keep them from finding us.”
“It’ll slow them down for awhile. And in the meantime, we can plan how to deal with them in the future.”
Charity glanced at him. “So were you going to kiss me back there?”
Mitchell smiled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar. You were definitely going to kiss me.”
“Luv, I hate to break this to you — but you’re not even my type.”
“Oh, really? And what is your type?”
“I like a girl with a creamy cocoa complexion. And a big bosom.”
Charity rolled her eyes and laughed. “Ah, I fail in both regards, then.”
“Well… your bosom is okay.” Charity pinched him. “Ouch!” he said, chuckling.
A silence fell between them but neither seemed to mind. It was good to be with someone who knew all your secrets, Charity realized.
Chapter IV: Endings and Beginnings
Charon stood at the head of the table, cloaked in his hood. Just off to the side and behind him was the Headless Horseman, whose mood seemed somewhat lighter this morning. Nipper knew that the murders would only slake the Horseman’s need for violence for a short time, so it was best to make the most of this.
Facing Charon was a fit young man named Morrissey. He was a third-rate goon from the looks of him, with a taste for narcotics and cheap whores. “So I know it’s not really big news but do you think you can use it?” he asked, licking his lips nervously. A large cold sore seeped painfully from the corner of his mouth.
“I wanted details about the city’s vigilantes,” Charon said, each word hissed from between clenched teeth. “But you bring me details about a shipment of drugs.”
“I know, I know — but this is a lot of snow, we’re talking about. The Ten Fingers are trying to horn in on the Sovereign City action, spreading out from Chinatown and into the rest of town. I figure that a guy like you would want to know about it.”
Charon moved around the table, his robes shifting with each step. He put a skeletal hand on Morrissey’s shoulder and drew him close. “Tell me again — what time are they arriving?”
“The boat’s supposed to come into the harbor at midnight.”
“And you’re certain that there won’t be much in the way of security?”
“Nah. They paid off the cops so they won’t be around. And besides the guys on the boat, there’s only gonna be two or three guys waitin’ to unload the stuff. It’s easy for the takin’!”
Charon patted the man’s back. “Thank you, my friend, for telling me this. Though it is not the sort of information that I would normally seek out, I will see that you are handsomely rewarded.”
“Thanks!” Morrissey gushed. He looked very eager as he asked, “I was thinking that maybe instead of money, I could get a sample of the take….”
“The cocaine, you mean?”
“Yeah! I’d really appreciate some of the snow, if you wouldn’t mind….”
“Something can be worked out, my friend. Have no fear.” Charon steered him towards the door. “I will be in touch.”
When he was gone, Charon turned to the Horseman. “We need to be there tonight. We’ll bring some gunmen with us.”
The Horseman shifted. “This does not sound like a challenge.”
“Not everything has to be.” Charon pulled his hood back, revealing his disguised face. “Look — remember the deal,” he said hotly. “You get to kill and I get rich.”
The Horseman backhanded Charon so hard that the villain flew across the tabletop. He landed on the floor, rising slowly.
“You will not speak to me in such a tone,” the Horseman warned. “The next time that you do, I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”
“I’m well aware of the true nature of our alliance,” Charon replied, wiping away a trail of blood that was leaking from his upper lip. “Forgive me. I’m just anxious to start getting what we both want. If we steal these drugs from The Ten Fingers, they’ll want retribution. That will lead to that war you want so badly — but I’m counting on you to protect me and to kill all of them!”
“I will not be stopped by the weapons of this age… bullets, knives, explosives… all are too little to halt my progress.”
“Good. ‘Cause these boys play for keeps. Now, as I was saying, we’ll be there to night with some of our goons. We’ll take the drugs and then we’ll make a killing on the open market, selling it for less than the Ten Fingers would ever do. It’s all profit for us and it’ll get us a foothold into the drug running biz. Once we’ve done that, we’ll start buying our own supply.”